Devotionals by Jill Briscoe

Watch, for the day of the LORD is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you! - Zechariah 14:1

“Get real,” shouted a young man. “There’s no way you can get me to believe Jesus is coming again!” Yet Christians believe that he is! Zechariah spoke of such a day. Jesus describes the same event: “Everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27).

After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, angels appeared and assured the disciples that Jesus would physically return just as he had physically left (Acts 1:11). So someday, sometime, it will happen. We cannot know the exact time (Matthew 24:36), but Jesus has told us to be ready (Luke 12:40). So how are we to prepare for that momentous moment?

First, we can avoid the scoffer’s error: “Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he?” (2 Peter 3:4). If we know that his return is a reality, then we can be patient. Second, we can ask God to create a sense of urgency within us for those who are not yet saved. Third, we can heed James’s advice: “Don’t grumble about each other, my brothers and sisters, or God will judge you. For look! The great Judge is coming. He is standing at the door!” (James 5:9). Fourth, we can let the reality of Christ’s return govern our behavior. The prophet Zechariah, hundreds of years before Christ, knew of a coming day of the Lord and looked forward to it with hope and expectation. Let’s check out the reality of our faith—and be found watching.

For Further Study: Malachi 4:1-6

Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.

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